Friends Forever
by EveMarie Archer
Summary: When Kagome is thrust back into her own time, without her companions, she falls deeper and deeper into herself... When she felt like she would flop off the edge of insanity, someone jumps back into her life.
1. Chapter 1

Kagome's eyes fluttered open slowly, her body not wanting to wake up. She blinked a few times, looking about her, expecting to see her friends, but finding her bedroom in the present. Her brow creased above her nose, showing her confusion, as she sat up gingerly. Her person ached all over. She looked down to find bandages around her middle, wrapping her tightly. She was trying to remember... Why was she home? Why was she hurt? Where... was Inuyasha?

She gasped as memories came rushing back into her mind, bringing tears with it. She began to sob loudly, carrying her heart on her sleeve, feeling it break all over again. "Inuyasha." She said brokenly, bringing her knees to her chest, falling over them to clutch her ankles. "Inuyasha!"

Someone opened her door, but Kagome didn't look up. She couldn't, just continued to cry as if someone died. As if all hope were lost to her, as if... she had nothing left to live for.

"Kagome..." Souta said quietly, walking over to her bedside. He hesitated before touching her back, wanting to bring her comfort, but not wanting to damage her further. When she had come stumbling from the well house, all bloodied and broken, she hadn't said a word to anyone. This was the first time she'd been awake long enought to sit up since then.

She turned to him, and he saw her sadness through her deep eyes. Tears sprang to his own as she crawled over to him degectedly, laying her head on his small shoulder. She cried into his shirt, holding him as if he would float away.

"They're all gone, Souta!" She yelled in despair, digging her nails painfully into his chest. "Sango, Miroku... Shippo, Inuyasha... I-I... don't know what to do!" Her body shook as she cried, and Souta was alarmed to see blood on her bandages.

"Kagome! Kagome, stop moving around!" He told her, trying to get some sense through to her. "You're re-opening your wounds, stop!" She continued to babble about her friends from the past while he tried to lay her back onto the bed. "I'll go get Mom," he said soothingly, wiping her forehead. "She can help, you know. She always knows what to do, right, Kagome?" He walked to her door, opening it quickly. "Hold on!"

She closed her eyes and all she saw was red.

"Blood... So much blood!" She cried, becoming incoherent as her mind was barraged by images of her friends dying all around her, about how Kikyo was killed by Naraku, returning that bitter soul to Kagome's wounded body, pushing her to the brim, even after Miroku had fallen, followed closely by Sango who had crawled over to him to hold him, even as her own life's blood was spilling onto the ground.

Inuyasha had retrieved the Shikon No Tama, handing it to Kagome to be purified, when, all of the sudden, Inuyasha had a hole in his chest and was telling Kagome goodbye and how much he loved her, wishing things had been different. The young Miko, overcome with grief and hurt and pain, destroyed Naraku with the very last of her energy. She couldn't stay there after that, and she stumbled blindly to the well, and back into her own time, only to find herself depressed and in pain.

"Kagome, dear." Someone said by her ear. She opened her eyes to see her mother and the tears rushed out anew, flinging her arms about her mother's shoulders. "Shhhh... It's okay, Kagome," the older woman said soothingly, rocking her daughter in a warm embrace. "It will be okay. It will all turn out for the best..."

Kagome barely heard her as she fell into a fitful sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter One.

One Month Later.

Kagome sighed, feeling her heart scream out in protest as she walked onto her school's campus. _I'm not ready for this..._ She thought sadly, feeling her feet drag as she moved into the building. She scuffed her shoe on the tiles of the hallway.

"Higurashi!" Came a call from behind her. She swiped the frown off her visage and replaced it with a polite smile, turning around to face the owner of the voice. Hojo came running from a litttle ways back, startling her. _He recognized me from so far away?!_ He caught up to her, taking long enough for her to school her expression.

"It's good to see you back, Kagome," the boy said softly, a nice smile gracing his features. She wrapped her hand around the pretty pink jewel hanging around her neck, looking him in the eyes. He involuntary flinched at the sadness in their depths, even when she smiled, it barely reached her eyes.

He smiled wider. Her smile still reached her eyes. Whatever happened won't change who she was on the inside. "Hello, Hojo-kun." She said, her voice flowing over his senses, reminding him of why he wanted to be near her so much. "How can I help you?"

"I just wanted to walk you to class," he answered, synchronizing his steps with hers. He adjusted his backpack on his shoulders as her pace sped up. She nodded politely, granting him permission. _She walks so fast for someone who's been so sick._ He looked over her body quickly, trying not to be obvious. Or get caught looking. _She's all muscle! She isn't even short of breath... How amazing._

"So, Kagome, when you recover, you really do recover, huh?" He asked playfully. She glanced at him, her brows knit together in a question. He laughed off her expression, shaking his head. "You seem to be in perfect health! Even better off than the last time I saw you."

She looked at the ground, her bangs hanging over her eyes, casting a shadow over her cheeks. "I guess so..." she said hollowly. _Spending so much time running around in the Feudal Era will do that to just about anyone._ She was reminded of her other life, beyond the Bone Eater's Well, and all of her friends that died without her in the past...

Hojo watched as Kagome withdrew into herself and didn't say anything more to her, even when they reached her classroom, there was no "goodbye," or "see you later." The depressed girl just walked straight through the doorway, her usually gait changed by the slump in her backbone. Hojo waited until her friends came down the hallway, interrupting their conversation.

"Higurashi is back today." He blurted, stopping the girls in their tracks. They got gleeful expressions while one of them gave him a mischevious look.

"Do you want me to give her a gift, Hojo-kun?" Yuka asked, her voice full of suggestion. "A love letter? Or, maybe, just a message, telling her how beautiful you think she is?"

The girls laughed while Hojo flushed crimson. "No," he said stubbornly, swallowing hard, "I just wanted to warn you. I think somthing bad is happening with her. She just... doesn't seem... happy."

Eri frowned at him. "Something like what?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, but... look at her!" He turned and the three girls looked past his shoulders at their friend. Kagome sat at her desk, tears in her eyes as she gazed out the window, not really looking at the things in front of her. "I don't know what could be wrong."

Eri, Yuka, and Yuki all looked at eachother, sharing a thought. _Could something have happened with Inuyasha...?_

"I'm home." Kagome said into the foyer of her home, not too loudly, and only out of habit. No one heard her, so she took off her shoes and made her way upstairs to her bedroom. Ever since she came back from the big battle with Naraku, her only sanctuary was her over-pink room, which she felt was the only place that she could forget anything was different. Forget to remember that her whole life had changed.

She looked out her window, spotting the God Tree from her place by the glass. She could also make out the small markers she had set up in memory of her friends. One for Sango, one for Miroku, one for Inuyasha... the graves swam as her eyes filled with tears. She grasped the Shikon No Tama around her neck, one of the only things she still had to show that what happened was true. It wasn't something that her imagination came up with.

To show she wasn't crazy.

She saw something red streak across her line of vision, next to the tree, making her heart jump into her throat, getting knocked back down by the permanent lump that had moved in since she'd been home. She couldn't think, all she could do is run blindly out of her room, stumble down the stairs, and throw herself out the front door. She sprinted across the Shrine's grounds, her heart filled with hope of finding her beloved waiting for her.

He was there. Inuyasha was standing with his back to her, his silver hair falling down his back, his red fire rat haori hanging loosly on his frame. He was looking up into the branches of the God Tree, where it all began, 500 years ago. She took a small step towards him, wishing he would turn around. She stuck out a hand to place on his back, but froze.

He was fading, and she ran to him, wanting to hold him there, to keep him with her. She began to sob, desperate to touch him. "Inuyasha," she said quickly, trying to catch his attention, trying to make him stay. He turned to her, his eyes sad.

"Kagome..." she heard him whisper, sounding as if he were the wind. He reached for her.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called, frantically grabbing for him. And, suddenly, he was gone, leaving her alone in her grief. "Inuyasha! INUYASHA!" She fell to her knees, wrapping her arms around herself as she mourned his death again, reliving the loss of the one man she loved. "Don't leave me, please! Inuyasha!!!"

She was suddenly enveloped in light, and her tears glowed as they fell from her face. She was startled into standing, watching as the Shikon No Tama shone brightly from her neck, engulfing her in a light that was unreal. As it faded, she couldn't stop herself from crying more, the warmth leaving her as the glow did.

"Inuyasha..." she said miserably as the ground came rushing up to meet her and she was unconscious before she even felt the floor.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Two.

He looked around, still very, very confused as to **why** he suddenly had to rush over here. It felt like someone was calling to his soul, desperately needing him to be there. He'd felt this a few times before, but never this strongly. He'd never actually taken it seriously until, when he'd finally made it home from school, he heard a girl cry out his name.

It made him afraid. Not for himself, but he suddenly became irritated, and eventually answered the call, leaving the shelter of his home and walking all the way to this damn shrine. _Why am I so weird?_ He asked himself, as he wandered around, the freshly-swept ground seemingly pointing him in the right direction.

The longer he walked around, the more anxious he became, as if he was expecting something big, green, with one eye to jump out at him at any moment. His feet sped up, his dark eyes jumping around his surroundings, looking for... something. His frantic steps slowed to a stop when he spotted a little house, almost dumpy-looking, and obviously old, like the rest of the place. When he got closer, he heard some strange mewling noise coming from the hut.

He opened the door, curiosity getting the better of him, only to find a dark staircase leading down to... _a well? Is that what that thing down there is?_ He asked himself. Suddenly, an extremely fat cat pounced at him from the darkness, startling him into jumping back. The cat stared up at him dolefully, almost accusingly.

He scowled. "Don't you give me that look, you stupid cat." He almost smiled as the obese feline rubbed against him. He was more of a dog person, but this cat seemed so... familiar? He crouched down to scratch the calico behind it's ears.

"Buyo...?" A young voice asked from behind him. He jumped up, spinning on his heels to see the owner of the voice, almost embarrassed to be seen petting the animal. A boy with short, black hair sticking up at every angle came toward him, his brown eyes searching the stranger's face. "Can I help you, sir?" He asked, scooping up his fat cat.

He felt his lips smile, but his mind was spinning. "I was just exploring the area," he explained. _Have I seen this kid before?_ He asked himself, the deja-vu feeling returning, being ampified by everything he saw.

The boy smiled back. "I live here, so if you want a tour, I'd be happy to give you one." He winked playfully. "Free of charge!"

He chuckled. "Sounds like a good deal, kid. So, what's this, then?" He asked with a quick motion over his shoulder at the well-house. The boy's face fell a moment, closing his eyes to the flash of pain on his young face. But, it passed so quickly, he could have imagined it.

"That's the Bone Eater's Well," the boy explained, walking down the steps, motioning for the stranger to follow. "I used to be so afraid of this place..." The kid looked around, memories in his eyes. "My sister used to come in here all the time."

He made a face that the youth laughed at. "Why would a girl spend all of her time in a place like this?" He wondered aloud. The shelter sent a chill down his spine and made him get goosebumps on his arms. The place was down-right creepy, and it felt like there was something waiting for him in the shadowy well.

The boy shrugged. "I... don't really understand Kagome anymore." He said quietly, more to himself than to anyone else.

_Kagome..._ The girl's name stirred something in his mind, making his stomach clench, and his heart flutter. He blinked, confused by his body's reaction to a **name** of a girl he's never met. The boy made a motion to follow him from the dark well-house, and the three males walked to the right, down a smaller trail.

The cat began to wander ahead of them,and he began to get a strange feeling, his over-excited heart speeding up, making him anxious all over again. It was like he was going on stage... or about to take a horrible test... or like that one time he got in a fight, filled to the brim with anticipation.

In front of his eyes was one of the largest trees he'd ever seen, a few graves sprinkled around it. But, laying near the markers, there was a thin girl with long, ebony hair flowing all around her, spread out on the ground. Her small frame was trembling, but she looked unconscious. She was wearing a white blouse, a red tie, and short green skirt and his memory jumped again. It was like he was watching a screen from under the water, not able to make anything out except blurred colors and strange voices.

The boy screamed before running to her side, feeling her head, checking her stomach and her scraped knees. "Sis!" He called, shaking her slightly, before turning to his new friend. "Watch her, please! I need to get help!" He nodded as the child ran off at breakneck speed.

His legs jerked as his feet tried to run to her side, to hold her and make sure everything was okay. To make her smile. To see her blue eyes light up and all trails sadness leave her visage. He didn't even wonder how he knew that her eyes were blue. He moved towards her slowly, his measured steps not disturbing her.

A name, her name, sprang to his lips.

"Kagome."

She stirred, her eyes fluttering before she fell back to sleep. "Inuyasha..." She muttered, almost too softly for him to hear. He took a jerky step closer to her, stopping short as the shock of her knowing his name, in her sleep, immobilized his limbs. He saw a pink jewel around her neck, glittering at him, making him blink a few times. He dropped to his knees next to her, placing her feverish head in his lap, brushing her bangs out of her face.

He heard voices, but he was getting dizzy, and he couldn't tell if they were inside, or outside, of his own head. His hand brushed the jewel at her throat and he felt a shock all through his body. Black was beginning to creep in at the edges of his vision, and there was hot pain all throughout his body, starting at his head and ending with his toes.

When the darkness finally came, it was a relief to fall into it, knowing the pain would be over.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Three.

"How could this be possible...?" Kagome heard, her head feeling fuzzy, the voice muffled by a slightly-closed door. She tried sitting up, finding she was only acutely dizzy as she took a few measured breaths. She was hot. Really, really hot and she needed some water.

"Didn't Kagome say that Inuyasha **died**?" Souta said quietly. Kagome stopped moving around, her ears straining to hear the conversation she was at first trying to ignore. "How could he be here?"

The school-girl's face paled, her heart dropping out through her stomach. She felt like she would throw up as she slowly made her way to the door, making no sound as she walked shakily. _Inuaysha is... here_? She thought frantically, her hands trembling badly. _H-how..._

She stepped out of the room, her blue eyes soaking up the sight of her half demon laying on the couch, his long silver hair swept back out of his face, a red, button-down shirt over his muscular chest and blue jeans covering his legs. The voices of her family stopped once they noticed she was amongst them, stumbling to the hanyou.

"Kagome," Souta said quietly, touching her arm. "I met this guy earlier, and he did **not** look like this." His sister looked at him, hope shining in her eyes. "I don't know how this happened, but you were unconscious by the Tree... and I ran away for help, leaving a boy who was wearing these clothes to watch you... and when we come back, Inuyasha was passed out next to you!" He frowned. "I don't understand."

"It was the Shikon No Tama!"

Everyone in the room, besides Inuyasha, blinked, looking around at eachother to find the source of the voice. Kagome suddenly slapped her neck, pulling her hand away with a bug on it. Everyone watched as the flea grew in size and **smiled** sheepishly up at Kagome.

"Excuse me, Kagome-sama," the wizened, old flea said scratchily, rubbing his hands together. "But, it has just been too long since I've tasted your delicious Miko blood!"

"And, just how long ago was that, you demon?!" Kagome's grandfather demanded of Myoga, who laughed at the old man.

"Around 500 years," the flea answered pleasantly. Kagome's jaw dropped, staring down at her palm. Myoga smiled up at her and she felt tears spring ot her eyes. "Now, now, my dear," he said, bouncing up to her shoulder and patting her neck. "Don't go all sappy on me. I'm too old for people to get emotional at our reunions."

Kagome nodded, wiping her eyes, as her family continued to watch them in disbelief.

"What did you say caused this, Myoga?" Kagome asked, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Both Inuyasha and Myoga were here with her... Life was looking up!

"The Shikon Jewel around your neck, Kagome!" The flea demon exclaimed, bouncing in excitement. "I felt it's power earlier, and I felt this pull in my soul..." he shook his head, trying to explain the feeling. "Like a... **calling**. You called me, using the Shikon No Tama as the amplifier. It looks like Inuyasha also felt the call." He looked at Souta. "Boy. You said this is not what he looked like earlier this day?"

Souta nodded, his voice lost somewhere, along with his sanity. _I'm speaking with a talking flea that's friend's with my crazy sister_.

Kagome frowned, looking at the dog demon. "Is that really Inuyasha, then?" Myoga bounded off her shoulder, landing on Inuyasha's nose, sucking his blood. The hanyou's clawed hand cam up, smacking the flea and flattening him against his face.

"That's the real Inuyasha," Myoga said, sounding squashed. "Tastes the same to me." The flea returned to Kagome's shoulder, frowning. "But. Inuyasha died. I saw it happen, and so did you, Kagome."

She nodded her head, her eyes sad.

"But... now he's here. In the present, in normal clothes, and the boy says he looked different when he first came here..." the flea thought a moment, then pounded his fist into his hand. "It must be a reincarnation! That's the only explination."

Kagome's grandfather nodded his head, moving closer to the pair. "But, if that's true, how would he have turned into his former life's form?" He wanted to know.

"The Jewel is a very powerful thing, old man," he explained, nodding his head. "And so is Kagome. The two together can probably cause a lot more than just a physical change." He looked at the slumbering Inuyasha. "The only thing I wonder about is... does this Inuyasha come equipped with the sme memories as our Inuaysha?"

Kagome coughed. "What?" She asked urgently, too many thoughts were bouncing around on her head. "I did this?!" She gazed at the silver-haired teenager. _What if this Inuyasha didn't remember her, even after she went and changed his body??_ Things could be messy when this mystery Inuaysha woke up.

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here." A grumpy voice said from the couch, everyone watched as golden eyes blinked open, a clawed hand rubbing them. He yawned, a fang poking out from under a lip. Suddenly aware that everyone was watching him, Inuyasha frowned. "What am I, your favorite T.V. show? Stop staring at me!" He saw Myoga and his frown deepened.

"What is it, Master Inuyasha?" Myoga asked hopefully, flinching when the hanyou gasped.

"A talking flea!" He cried, jumping up from the couch, moving away from the group. "What ecactly is going on?!" He demanded of the room, getting anxious in the silence.

"Inuyasha, calm down," the dark-haired girl from before said, her blue eyes pleading with him to be still. His mind automatically calmed, his racing heart slowing down. He could smell her, and it was like he'd died and gone to heaven, she smelled so good. He sat back down, unexpectedly tugging on his hair.

_Wait... his hair_? He looked over his shoulder to find long, silver locks, shocking him into standing again. He touched the top of his head, feeling fuzzy apendages. _My... ears... are on top of my head._

"You're a dog." The girl said quietly, reaching over and rubbing his ears. Pleasure erupted inside him at her touch, and he melted into her hands. Her eyebrows shot into her hairline at how off-guard Inuyasha was.

"I'm a... what?" He asked, his eyes dark as they looked up at her. She stopped petting him and sat next to him on the couch.

"You're a dog demon, Master Inuyasha," said the speciman on Kagome's shoulder, jumping up and down in excitement. The flea looked at Kagome. "He is not our Inuyasha, only in our Inuyasha's body."

Kagome's blue eyes clouded over with sadness. She nodded, pulling into herself. Inuyasha watched in despair as the girl closed off the world around her. _I knew it was too good to be true._ She thought, moving her knees up to her chest as Myoga continued to speak to the human-gone-hanyou.

"You are Inuyasha, my Master, and friend, brought back to life with the help on the Shikon No Tama here, around Kagome's neck." Golden eyes looked at her throat, at the pink jewel that caused all of this.

"I... don't understand." Inuyasha stated slowly, his eyes drifting up to Kagome's face, bringing up one of his clawed hands to touch her cheek. When she leaned into his touch, he realized he was with a complete stranger, his hand snapped back to his side. "I am Inuyasha, not a demon. I go to school halfway across town, I have a family, a job... I wasn't dead to be brought back to life."

There was a knock on the door, and Kgome's mother excused herself to answer it.

"Who... am I?" Inuyasha asked.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Four.

"You're Inuyasha." Kagome answered quietly, her voice cracking slightly. She looked him in the face, a fierce look creeping into her eyes. "You are Inuyasha! Please..." she dropped to her knees, taking his hand, and he was too shocked to stop her. "Please, Inuyasha, remember me!"

He breathed deeply her scent, closing his eyes to the onslaught of emotions that came with it. Her desperateness and his own confusion, mixed with an emotion he wasn't ready to assess yet. Yes, she was familiar, but he couldn't recall any memories of the raven-haired beauty before him.

"I'm sorry, but I don't-"

"Kagome!" Someone called form the doorway, and before they knew what was happening, a small, orange fluff ball launched itself into the schoolgirl's chest, clinging to her shoulders. Kagome stared at the little life in her hands and began to cry. Hard.

"I smell a fox." Inuyasha said dumbly, staring at Kagome as she clutched the furball.

"Shippo!" She cried, trying to see the kit through her tears. He looked up at her, pain in his eyes, trying to wipe the tears from hers. "Shippo, what... What are you doing here?" He extracted himself from her grim, dropping to the floor and immediately transformed into a handsome teenager with auburn hair and green eyes.

"I felt you call me, Kagome." He grinned at her wide-eyed expression, looking down at himself. "I had to transform to get past the woman at the door. She wouldn't let me in, even though I said I was your friend! Then, I caught Inuyasha's scent and thought that would be the best way..." he stared down at her, smiling sadly. "It's been 500 years and you still look the same." He leaned down an kissed her cheek.

Suddenly, Kagome was being pulled backwards, ending up flush against a hard muscled chest, a low growl coming from somewhere above her ear. "Who do you think you are, runt?" Inuyasha asked, his an expression of extreme dislike on his face. "Don't be so friendly with her." He was fuming, and Kagome smiled to herself. _Just like the old days,_ she thought, leaning against the boy she loved.

"Who are you calling a runt, you dog?" The fow demanded, easily slipping back into the banter that used to be a daily routine for him so long ago. "I'm just as tall as you now, if not taller!" He smiled at himself. _Why am I being so childish?_

He looked at Shippo, eyes wide. "Have I met you before?" He asked slowly, frowning. Kagome closed her eyes and didn't open them again as she passed out for a second time that day. "K-Kagome?!"

Shippo reached for her, but Inuyasha's growl stopped him short.

"What?" The fox demon asked, slightly miffed. What was wrong with him?

"Who are you?" Inuyasha demended angrily. Shippo frowned, his irriation slipping away. Inuaysha didn't remember him. It looked like Inuyasha, and smelled like Inuyasha, and defiately acted like Inuyasha, but... it wasn't?

Myoga was suddenly on Shippo's shoulder. "He has no memories of his previous life. Just the body of our old Inuyasha." Myoga shook his head slowly. "In her grief, Kagome called to us all. His call was the strongest, of course, and when he got here, the Shikon Jewel transformed him."

The fox demon blinked, scratching his head. "What?" he said in unison with the new Inuyasha. They looked at eachother and Inuyasha let Kagome go.

"Let's go somewhere else." He suggested, laying the girl down where he had just vacated.

"Don't leave the house like that, Inuaysha!" Kagome's grandfather said sternly. "I understand you're now a young man of this world, but you look like a monster to those who don't know you. You'll stay here until we can figure this out." The half demon began to argue, but Shippo cut in.

"It's true, Inuyasha," he said quietly, knowing the dog ears would catch the words that he wouldn't have been able to hear otherwis. "You're not the same."

"Go call your family, dear," Kagome's mom said with a smile. "Dinner will be ready soon."

The silver haired teen sighed, accepting defeat.

Kagome awoke to the sound of... nothing. She was in her bed, snuggled under the covers, a smile on her lips. She yawned, her mind catching up to the past events. An amazing smell permeated the air, and her stomach grumbled, reminding her of her need to eat.

_Shower first._ She thought, wandering out of her room. When she opened the door, she tripped over the prone figure laying down in front of her door, both bodies grunting as she landed hard on her arms and chest.

"What are you doing?" The previously-slumbering hanyou demanded as Kagome tried to pick herself up off him. She stopped, hovering above him, her face inches from his. He swallowed, watching her lips as she scowled.

"What are **you** doing, Inuyasha?" She yelled at him. His new doggie ears flattened against his head as she huffed, finishing the task of climbing off him. "I didn't know you were sleeping on the floor outside my door. If I did, I'd be sure to **kick** before walking out!"

He sat up, glaring at her backside as she walked to the bathroom. "I didn't have anywhere else to- HEY! Where are you going?" He jumped up in time to have the door slam in his face. "I'm not done talking to you, Kagome!"

She turned on the bath water and Inuyasha huffed, dropping to the floor by the door again. _You may have nothing to say, but I sure do!_ He heard her ease herself into the hot water, sighing as it began to untighten her muscles. Even though his heightened senses were nice, he wanted to be changed back! And Myoga said earlier that it was **her** fault he'd transformed to begine with.

His eyes softened as he remembered the conversation he'd had earlier with the other two demons, being told of his adventure in the Feudal Era, his liasons with Kikyo, his friends, enemies, and, eventually, his death. It gave him a shiver down his back thinking about it. _That isn't me..._ He thought, almost remorsefully. _Now I have this weird body, powers, and Kagome... _His thoughts stilled, his eyes dropping to his hands. He clenched them as a possessive thought passed through his mind at the reminder of the girl. It's like he... couldn't help it.

"Stop." He told himself sternly. He stood, walking down the stairs to the kitchen where he could hear Kagome's mother finishing up dinner. He walked into the kitchen, and her brown eyes smiled at hi from the table.

"You're the first one here," she looked behind him, her brow creasing. "Where's Kagome?"

"In the shower," he answered. She nodded, ladeling some noodles into a bowl for the hungry half demon. She handed him the dish a he sat across the table from the older woman. "You know how much she likes her baths." He said as an afterthought, his eyes widening as he realized **he** didn't know how much she enjoyed her baths. But... he did. He'd just said so with the girl's mother agreeing.

"Inuyasha..." the dark haired woman started, her kind eyes making his smile. "I wanted to... thank you. For coming to help Kagome." She clarified when he shot her a confused look. He opened his mouth to say something, but she continued. "I understand you don't have your memories as the other Inuyasha, but I also understand that when Kagome needed someone the most, you suddenly appeared. You... have helped her more than you could ever know. She was torn up when you... uhm... died." She smiled, scoffing at herself. "I need to stop rambling! Please, eat your Ramen, and enjoy it."

"He always enjoys Ramen," Kagome's voice told her mother from the doorway as she walked in, plopping next to the hanyou. "Right, Inuyasha?" She asked, grinning.

He was so surprised, all he could do was nod.

"Back in the Feudal Era, I would bring you Ramen and you were almost **obsessed** with it!" She laughed, the musical sound rushing over his senses, a picture of her, sitting on the lip of a well, smiling and saying she'd be back soon. He watched, helpless, as she dropped away, disappearing to her time, and feeling so... lonely. "You and Shippo would always fight over who got the thrid helping."

"Speaking of him, where is Shippo?" Kagome's mother asked, a crease in her brow from worry. "I apologized for not letting him into the house, but..." she laughed, a pleasant little laugh that made the others in the room smile. "I'm not sure if he's forgiven me."

"Don't worry about it," Shippo's tired voice said from the doorway. He dropped down next to Kagoe, resting his head on her shoulder, inhaling her scent and smiling. "I'd already forgotten about it." He lifted his head, and Kagome gasped. The teenager looked exhausted!

"Shippo!" She felt his forehead for fever, seeing the dark bags under his eyes and worrying all over again. "Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

He sighed, pulling away from Kagome's motherly fussing. There was only so much a demon of 507 years old can take. "I was trying to figure something out with Myoga, and I'm proud to say it's a success." He smiled at the proud look Kagome was sending him and he couldn't help hugging her, thankful he'd found his surrogate mother again. He reached into his shirt pocket, pulling out a sleeping Myoga and a necklace of purple beads and small, white fangs on a string.

"The rosary!" Kagome exclaimed, grabbing for it. "When did you...?"

"I've had it all this time," Shippo said, almost sadly. He looked to Inuyasha, who was watching their exchange with mild interest, still giving Shippo a suspicious eye. "And now I've added my own Fox Magic to it. When you wear it, Inuyasha, you will take on your human form. But, be careful! It's only a cover, or an intricate disguise, if you take off the rosary, you will be seen as a half demon. When you have it on, you will still have your inhuman powers, so you'll have to tone them down."

Inuyasha nodded slowly, looking at Kagome with the beads. She brought her hands up to put the rosary over his head and he suddenly had a very bad, bad, bad feeling. He put up a hand to stop her. "What was this used for all those years ago?"

Kagome smiled, remembering their escapades. "It was used as a subdueing spell." She placed the rosary on his shoulders, making him transform into his human form. She looked over his face intently, taking in the change in appearance. His hair was cut short, midnight black, his eyes a deep violet, but other than that... _He looks the same._ "All I had to do was say the word 'sit,' and-"

The beads glowed and Inuyasha's bad feeling came to the surface as an outraged cry, soon muffled by the floor as he was sent hurtling towards it, being pulled around the neck. Shippo couldn't help but giggle, trying and failing to hold it in.

"-you would be face down in the dirt..." Kagome finished slowly as the miffed human Inuyasha picked himself off the floor, his eyes wide with shock.

Shippo's eyebrows rose into his hairline. _No explosion?_

Kagome blinked. _No harsh words?_

Inuyasha looked from one to the other, frowning. "Please, Kagome. Never do that again."

She nodded, silent for a moment. Then: "Sometimes I slip." She warned, watching him flinch. "It **is** an everyday word, Inuyasha. I don't mean to say it half the time. So... I'm apologizing in advance, I guess."

The hanyou gone human paled and Shippo burst into giggles again. "You used ot get so mad!" He howled, leaning onto Kagome for support. "You used to threaten her, and-"

Inuyasha, who had turned red when Shippo began to laugh, now had his hand in a fist, and his fist had just connected with the top of the fox demon's head. He sighed as Shippo cried to Kagome about the pain. She gave Inuyasha a stern look, _some things never change._

"That felt great." The dark haired teen said with a tight lipped smile. Kagome couldn't help but smile at the mannerisms her new Inuyasha was getting from her old Inuyasha. Shippo looked angry, hurt, and relieved all at the same time as he nursed his head.


End file.
